Final answer:
Isaac Newton profoundly influenced Enlightenment thinkers by providing a predictable, scientific framework with his Law of Gravity and dismissing theological explanations, which encouraged applying empirical methods to philosophy, society, and politics.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sir Isaac Newton, pivotal to the Scientific Revolution, immensely influenced the thinkers of the Enlightenment. His works, particularly the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, provided a framework based solely on science without the inclusion of theology. Newton's concepts, such as the Law of Gravity, not only explained the physical universe but also offered a predictable structure for its workings. Philosophers such as John Locke, Adam Smith, and Voltaire took inspiration from Newton's approach to find rational explanations for the universe and applied similar methodologies to understand human institutions, focusing on natural rights and society. Newton's legacy of seeking empirical understanding influenced not just the sciences but prompted a reevaluation of humanity's place in the universe, signaling the beginning of the modern era and bridging the Renaissance to the Enlightenment period.
Newton's work suggested that the universe operated on universal and unchangeable laws, encouraging the Enlightenment thinkers to question traditional norms and seek rational, scientific explanations for societal, political, and economic systems. This philosophical shift, often referred to as the Enlightenment, was fundamentally underpinned by the idea of applying the scientific method to all aspects of life, stemming from the confidence in empirical evidence and rational thought pioneered by Newton and his contemporaries.